The first three years of life are presented as a transition between the phase of very rapid growth, typical of the infant, and the period of steady growth, which extends from three years to the onset of puberty. This is a maturation period in which the child made significant progress in the acquisition of psychomotor functions, while their digestive and metabolic functions are reaching a level of maturity to bring their food to the older child.
However, a child becomes an adult immediately, its energy and certain nutrients advised to adjust the diet to their specific physiological, not rigid and precise rules should be adapted and individualized diet adjusting to the constitution and customs the child.
We must take special care for the child’s behavior that still small is subject to certain dislikes and preferences, which can lead sometimes to a diet lacking certain nutrients.
The early stages of life are critical for the individual to form his whole immune system and to avoid disease secondary to improper nutrition.
The correct food from the year of age is based on eating a balanced diet that meets the following three objectives:
To ensure optimal growth and development.Avoid nutritional deficiencies.Prevent disease.PHYSIOLOGICAL FEATURES
The period from one to three years and even until puberty, often referred to as the term “latent” or “quiescent” of growth, in contrast to the dramatic changes occurring in the first year of life and adolescence. While physical growth is less striking, these years are a time of significant growth in the social, cognitive and emotional.
In contrast to the threefold increase in birth weight occurs in the first 12 months, another year before they quadruple their birth weight. Also, the length from birth increased by 50% during the first year, but not duplicated until the four years or so.
In this period the average weight goes from 9.5 to 14 kilos (ie, an increase of almost 50%) and average size from 74 to 96 centimeters.
However, some children appear to remain in a “pattern dormant” for several months, after which show a rapid growth in height and weight. It should be noted that these patterns are generally parallel to similar changes in appetite and food intake. For parents who do not know these trends (and even some who know them), periods of slow growth and poor appetite generate anxiety, which can lead to conflicts at mealtimes.
The body proportions in young children change significantly. As physical activity increases, the legs are straightened while the abdominal muscles and back are adjusted to support the child now upright. These changes are gradual and subtle, and witness for a period of several years.
Body composition of these children remains relatively constant. Fat decreases gradually over the first three years of life.
Given that children are constantly growing and changing, periodic assessment of progress allows opportunity to detect and deal with any problems. The size and weight of a child must be provided. Growth monitoring conducted regularly to identify problems at an early stage and implement the intervention or relevant education in order not to affect the long-term growth. Weight increases at a faster rate in relation to height suggests the development of overweight or obese. The lack of weight gain or loss of it for a period of months may be due to poor nutrition, acute illness, an undiagnosed chronic disease, or significant family or emotional problems.
GUIDELINES FOR EATING WELL
The child must be integrated into the family diet food patterns following will decisively influence their future eating habits. While this is true, do not forget the child of one to three years may show a certain vulnerability to produce certain food limitations.
Children are constantly growing and developing bones, teeth, muscles and blood, so they require more nutrients in proportion to their weight than adults.
The energy of the food should be sufficient to ensure growth and avoid recourse to their body reserves for energy, yet not be so excessive that it causes obesity.
Moreover, to impair its growth rate over the first year of life, loss of appetite often occurs, resulting in a lower spontaneous intake should not worry parents. This fact, which can be accentuated more than necessary, along with expressing certain food aversions and immature motor skills, vulnerability justified at this age. Also keep in mind that at this age can not follow a meal pattern similar to the adult, ie three meals per day without major complement each other, given their lower digestive capacity.
It is in early childhood when eating habits are acquired, and the family is the institution best suited to introduce youngsters to the consumption of all foods.
After 12 months of age should gradually adding foods with a thicker texture to the child to get used chopped foods. For starters, they offer food crushed with a fork to be changing a little chopped. All this depending on each child and his quickness in learning chewing. The goal is to reach the 18-24 months the child to eat chopped foods.
General characteristics of the diet
The diet should be balanced and varied dishes, flavors, textures and consistency and even colors, to accustom the palate and achieve an adequate nutritional intake. The smell, color, taste, and they influence their personal tastes.You must ensure that the child does not acquire capricious behavior and monotonous food with a food preference, aversion to others that can lead to eating a deficit.Menus must be tailored to the individual, family and economic in each case.the child, especially in the younger age, we must educate them to chew and also an adequate handling of tableware.When should it introduce new foods gradually and the beginning of each meal, when the child’s appetite.If the child gets to eat in the nursery, know the menu for each day in order to complete and balanced diet with food from home.Limit consumption of superfluous “empty calories” (candy, sweets, snacks, drinks …), especially between meals, to eat what they have to feed their hours.Be aware that breakfast is one of the most important meal of the day.At lunch or snack, it should boost intake of homemade sandwiches, fruit and dairy products, without abusing the sausages, pates and cheeses acids.The structure of a conventional meal should consist of:First course: Generally based on rice, pasta, vegetables and potato, pureed vegetables. The nutritional value of this first course is energy intake, mainly from complex carbohydrates. It is important to introduce kids to take it because energy needs are the first to be covered if they are to meet food proteins in the body function form tissues and encourage growth. If this is not taken into account, the body uses protein to meet your energy needs and will be holding an unbalanced diet.
Main course: meat, meat products, fish or eggs. Should appear in moderate amounts (hunger should not be fed protein-based). May be accompanied by a side salad or vegetables or potatoes (baked or boiled or mashed, fried not always). It should include at least 3 times a week fish (white and blue) and eggs three times a week.
Desserts: Winter is a fruit and dairy products alternate with simple (yogurt, petit suisse, etc.).
DAILY FOOD RATIONS
To avoid any disruption caused by the addition of a new food, is essential to introduce a small amount to start it, observe tolerance and wait 7 to 10 days before entering the new product as usual.
If the child does not like drinking milk, it can be partially or fully replace other dairy products like cheese, yogurt …, in the amounts indicated in the table (food equivalent) and offer dishes that include among their ingredients milk (croquettes, mashed, au gratin, bechamel sauce, custards, puddings).The Nutrition Committee of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (ESPANG) recommends the use of milk to three years then, but mainly economic reasons, most families do not use it. It has now appeared on the market growth or junior milk, which is intermediate between the follow-on milk and beef. It is indicated for children over the year.If the child is a vegetarian will be appropriate counseling with health professionals about food experts (dietitians and nutritionists) to review meticulously regular consumption of foods and see how to combine them in order to avoid nutritional deficiencies.Brains are an essential food as assumed by many parents. Despite its important phosphorus content, are rich in cholesterol and Other foods in the diet that perfectly fits the needs of that mineral. However, it can be eaten occasionally if the child likes, which is not always the case.Breakfast cereals can be ready to eat yet difficult to chew, so it is best to choose cooking grains (oatmeal, cereal flakes 5) that occasionally can replace the porridge in the morning.The child must begin to include bread at meals. They will prefer white bread because the bread is not recommended before age 7 years because of its irritating action on the digestive tract. The bread can be substituted for the snack crackers, and helps the child in the dentition (in this case is to cut a piece of bark in the longitudinal direction of the pan).Potatoes are the basis of most vegetable purees. They can be served boiled, steamed, fried and not always. The mashed potatoes are rich in starch and need a good soaking saliva to digest completely. The child often engulfs them “cold turkey” can cause flatulence and for this reason it is best not to abuse them.Certain vegetables: carrots, spinach, turnips and beets are often high in nitrates. To reduce these substances, once cooked should be kept in a container without the stock and should not be reheated more than once. Also, not to exploit the broth where these vegetables are cooked.FOOD DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT THE DAY
At this time the child should make four (or five) shots a day, ie breakfast, lunch, snack or lunch and dinner, which reflects the limited digestive capacity of the child. Some still need milk taken before bed, others not, as meals can be complete and include milk and dairy desserts as a finale to any meal.
It is important to acquire healthy eating habits to keep meal times of day to day and never skip a shot.
Breakfast: There are many children who have no appetite to rise for many reasons: they fear to go to daycare and anxiety takes away your appetite, go to bed or get up too late and not sufficiently awake to your appetite can be revealed is alone in the table and get bored, monotony and uniformity of the breakfast does not make them attractive.
Breakfast is one of the most important meal of the day. A leisurely breakfast is equivalent to a poor breakfast, so you must devote sufficient time to sit down and avoid making breakfast combine with other activities such as watching television.
It is recommended that the first meal of the day include: dairy, grains of all kinds (biscuits, breakfast cereals, toast, bread or pastry not too fat). If one also includes a fruit or its juice, even better. Other foods rich in sugars such as honey, jam or preserves are also reserved for the breakfast part.
Lunch and / or snacks: Most children eat four or five times a day, so snacks are important because they contribute to total nutrient intake. Snacks are not limited to cookies, sodas, chips, which are foods that “fill” but does not nourish. Both the lunch and tea, are an energy supplement and at least one of them should be a routine part of infant feeding, to avoid many hours have passed since a meal to the next, but the amount should not be excessive to avoid appetite subtract the child to lunch or dinner.
Interesting for them to participate if possible in their preparation, to be aware of its importance.
Food: In our society, food is the main food intake the day and it’s time to find that family relationships and promotes the teaching and learning of eating habits. Why should foster a climate calm, peaceful, without interference (TV, radio, animals ) must be avoided if possible anarchy in the schedules, food preparation at the last minute, the long breaks between courses, constant yelling and nagging, eat very quickly and uncomfortable situations for lack of space.
Care should be the presentation of the dishes, temperature and order and cleaning the table.
Dinner: We should aim to be another moment of gathering around the table, in quiet and without distractions. Dinner should be complementary to the food, so we must take into account foods that were consumed at home or at daycare and not repeat them. Dinner should be lighter than the food, and as soon as possible for time to digest and sleep well.
IS A MISTAKE …
FOOD OFFER LARGE AMOUNTS OF PROTEIN
Sometimes overestimate the need for protein, meaning that it is an essential nutrient for the growth of the child. However, growth at this age becomes more slow and gradual so that the amount of these foods is not as important as that is usually offered.
Pass protein requirements of 2.2 grams per kilo of body weight per day (g / kg / day) in the first half of life, 1.5 g / kg / day in the second half, and 1.2 g / kg / day, one to three years. This quantitative difference of protein is because this nutrient serves growth, which decreases markedly in the first two years and hardly influenced by physical activity.
The percentage of energy provided by protein at these ages between 10 and 15%. This forces us to consider in the right amount of protein foods supply the child (meat, fish, eggs and dairy), being common to find protein food rations to over 15% of total energy. To get idea of ??this fact, consider that if a child drinks two glasses of milk, 50 grams of meat, yogurt and 1 slice of ham over the different meals, the protein intake is about 40 g than the needs of children from one to three years, estimated to be 1.5 grams of protein per kg body weight per day.
Too many mothers and fathers who worry about children who reject the huge steaks they have been prepared. There would be fewer conflicts in food rations if they were reasonable.
Protein deficiency is rare in children in our country, in part by the cultural importance of protein foods. Those most likely to risk of inadequate intake of this nutrient are children who eat a strict vegetarian, who have multiple food allergies or those who are constrained in their choice of diet food because of capricious behavior problems or limited access to the same .
OFFER SKIM MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS
The widespread consumption of skim milk by infants is not justified from a nutritional standpoint, unless medical advice says. Skim milk retains the same proportion of protein, sugars (lactose) and calcium than whole, but is devoid of fat, nutrient basic energy for the proper functioning and development of the smaller organic as well as vitamins dissolved in the fat called soluble, like vitamins A and D. Vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption and deposition in the bones.
SAUSAGE SANDWICHES WITH VARIOUS DEVELOPING
The only deli that should allow for this age is the ham and lean ham (without bacon). In addition to the ham can be found in other meat products to market with this product saved many similarities. This is the case of cooked pork shoulder, the presentation and taste are good and its price is comparatively lower than the ham. The ham is a product of high nutritional value, rich in proteins of high biological value and a relatively low fat content, compared with the various meats.
There are substitutes ham nutritionally inferior, which authorizes the addition of starches, proteins and other parts of the pig, as well as additives to form a compact cluster or pastel are the so-called deli ham. Just as the market is pork shoulder stiff and cold cuts of turkey or chicken, depending on the ingredients used.
Both products, or salty ham, eaten once or twice a week are sufficient to contribute to the diversification of the diet.
Sausages, meanwhile, are meat products high in fat, protein content varies according to the ingredients used. They are traditional chorizo ??sausage, salami, bologna, salami, sausage, sobrasada, etc.
SALT FOOD TOO
They should not over-salted culinary preparations (or in cooking or by eating food), in order to accustom the child to taste of its own food, reducing salt intake accordingly.
Proper education of the palate from infancy to avoid the difficulty in changing habits that are forced adults who need to reduce the amount of salt in your diet.
The recommendation to reduce the current consumption of salt is justified, especially considering their poor participation in the achievement of nutritional balance.
JUICE ALWAYS OFFERED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE FRUIT
Like water, another healthy drink for children is the fruit juice, with the advantage that, in general, like their sweet taste. Given that these ages need to take more than 8 glasses of fluid per day, consumption of fruit juice can be considered a successful alternative. Fruit juice offers many of the nutrients of the fruit (with the exception of fiber). If the label does not indicate otherwise, the commercial fruit juice, sugar itself contains only the fruit used in its preparation, and is a healthier choice than a fruit drink containing added sugar, as is the case with many drink drinks and nectars.
When selected wisely, some beverages, like milk and fruit juice count as a daily ration of food group. For example, a glass of juice counts as one of the 2-3 servings your child needs each day from the fruit group. Instead, a fruit drink that is only 10% fruit juice be considered a “sweet” and not a substitute for fruit.
Misuse multivitamins
Should be prescribed under the supervision of a physician or a nutritionist, and only in specific cases where it is possible to improve the quality of the diet or when there are situations of risk of specific nutritional deficiencies occur (acute or chronic long-term appetite, etc.)
However, some parents believe the only way to make your children take vitamins and minerals is provided in the form of granules or pellets and prepared. The ads often say that the diet is not enough to meet the needs of the organism in this regard. As it is very easy to buy supplements of this type, and its price is high, many people choose this option. On numerous occasions, exceed doses of vitamins and minerals, believing this will improve your health, be more energetic or prevent many diseases. More and more studies confirm the dangers of this practice.
How to give supplements of this kind can be harmful, parents should never offer your children without consulting a professional. Supplements should not be used as a substitute for a good meal, but as a complement in case of extra requirements. Children have a sufficient dose of vitamins and minerals if you follow a varied diet with foods from all the basic groups.
Nutrition in adults should focus on maintaining health and preventing disease development, by following a varied, healthy and balanced according to age, sex and physical activity of the person. Healthy eating habits have to be combined with a favorable lifestyle practices that include regular exercise, and reduction of toxins such as alcohol and snuff. And is that nutrition has become a tool used not only to prevent deficiency diseases, but as a defense against chronic disorders.